1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vertical-blind arrangements and more particularly to a vertical-blind-like modular assembly.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
Vertical blinds are well known and are rapidly replacing drapes and curtains as decorative and functional elements in both homes and commercial installations. Prior art vertical blinds, however, have involved complex gearing mechanisms and spacers as well as individual clutch mechanisms for each of the blind carriers which have made repair and installations of such vertical blinds both costly and time consuming. Moreover, such prior art installations known to the applicant herein are also costly and time consuming because of the required use of rivets, eyelets, etc., in assembly. In addition, one common failing of such prior art vertical blinds becomes apparent when the parallel arranged blinds are met by an obstruction, such as a book located on a window sill, when the blinds are pivoted to vary the amount of light admitted to the room. In the past, this has caused a misalignment of the blinds so that their parallel relationship is no longer maintained, causing costly repair to correct this.
During the life of an installation, it may be desired to change the width of the blinds, such as to vary the decorative effect, thereby requiring a change in the spacing between adjacent carriers, or it may be desired to change the fabric or the color of the blinds as a decorative feature. In the past, this has required disassembly of the entire prior art vertical-blind installation to accomplish such changes. Once again, this is both costly and time consuming. These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention.
Examples of prior art vertical-blind-like assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,141,954; 2,828,816; 2,529,714 and 3,921,694. With respect to U.S. Pat. No. 3,141,954, this prior art arrangement discloses a heat radiating curtain, as opposed to a pure vertical-blind, in which each of the slats comprising the curtain has a separate carrier containing a bevel gear arrangement for accomplishing rotation of the slat. However, there is no common slip clutch arrangement employed and, therefore, the problem of slat or louvre misalignment when an object is struck during rotation thereof is still present. Moreover, the slat carriers disclosed in this reference are not modular and are not independently removable. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,828,816 discloses another type of vertical-blind arrangement in which each of the blinds has its own separate worm gear arrangement for rotating the blinds. Once again, however, there is no common slip clutch arrangement to overcome the above discussed problem. Other typical prior art vertical-blind arrangements are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,529,714 and 3,921,694; however, neither of these arrangements overcomes the problems discussed above. Thus, none of the prior art known to applicant provides a vertical-blind arrangement in which each of the blinds may be individually replaced in situ without disassembling the entire blind assembly while the plurality of blinds also maintains their substantially parallel alignment even during attempted pivotal movement in the presence of an obstruction preventing such pivotal movement of any one of the plurality of blinds.